Garrett Pinpointer Pro Pointer information, tips and questions

[adamaus]

this is a great trick i will be trying it tomorrow cheers

 

[Hunting the yellow]

thanks m8 tryed it last week bloody great idea thanks for posting

 

[WickedWaz]

Will be trying this tomorrow, great post.

 

[cactus]

thank you this is a very good post :lol:

 

[Paulmarr]

Hi Everybody

I just bought a new Garrett Pro Pointer and while I am waiting for it to arrive I came across this video with a tip on how to use it to pin point a very small target or a deeper target and wanted to share it.

"Website no longer available"

 

[Ramjet]

Good tip. I hadn't seen that before.
Thanks Paul

 

[Still Looking]

I have been having trouble with my pro pointer falsing...chased around the net and found this video ( if it works). I tried a bit of cardboard in the cap thinking it may be battery not connecting properly but still got the problem..not game to try this myself but will see if I can get a electronics tech to do it for me...not real good at soldering small wires..

 

[Ramjet]

I have not had any issues with my Pro pointer.
Thanks for sharing the video. It may help others with the same problem.

Cheers

Ramjet

 

[Still Looking]

just pulled the innards out and discovered that the two unsheathed wires are touching each other...very small solder area so will go and see the local laptop man and see if they can unsolder them and put insulation over them..will let you know the outcome..

 

[Still Looking]

I have not had any issues with my Pro pointer.
Thanks for sharing the video. It may help others with the same problem.

Cheers

Ramjet

I believe Garret have addressed the problem in the later ones....also some minelab one are falsing as well..probably made in the same chinese factory with different stickers

 

[Goldpick]

The mind boggles on why Garrett don't fix this issue, especially if it only requires some shrinkwrap to prevent the wires from fouling on the circuit boards?? Looks to be an easy fix for someone handy with a soldering iron, and who is not too worried about warranty.

 

[Still Looking]

oops..while looking at the problem I bumped the on off switch and guess what.? it flew to bits...so bigger job now...those switches are so flimsy its a wonder they don't fall to bits when switching on and off...

 

[ANGRE7]

Cheers for the find, Didnt know this also!!

 

[condor22]

I have the Minelab pinpointer, does this work on it also or is this just a Garrett trick?

 

[sh4ggs]

Tried it with my minelab pointer and it just seems to blank out the target completely?
Would perhaps need to back off a little instead of turning off and on near the target.
Never been a real issue anyway, but may tip the scales in favour of a Garrett pointer if you were buying one and weren't sure which is better.

 

[TTKooAu]

My Garrett's PP is playing up as well. Sometimes it will continue beeping when I pull away from a target and be 3 feet away from any metal. If I turn it off and back on it seems to reset itself. I've changed the battery thinking that was the problem but it still plays up now and then. I bought it new in August 2013, but the rubber grommet covering the switch seems to be perishing and ends up sucking itself inside the body. When I get a chance I'll be taking it back under its warrantee.

 

[Still Looking]

Do it soon mate because once the warrantys up they don't want to know you..I rang Garrett a Aust. about mine and all they could say was check that the battery is not loose because the foam in the end cap might be squashed...also be very careful of the switch if the grommet is doing that because the switch is so flimsy it will probably break..looks like about a 10c job from a hobby shop...

 

[TTKooAu]

I hear you

 

[Goldpick]

It can also be due to the wiring from the circuit board to the sensor making contact with each other, there is a you tube vid on this. Apparently there are three wires, the middle one is properly insulated, but the two side wires only have a thin coating which can wear off over time, and make momentary contact with sections of the board. The fellow who fixed his propointer desoldered the two side wires, and slipped on a couple sections of shrinkwrap on to prevent unwanted contact. Something to try if your propointer is out of warranty.

You can also buy new switch kits off ebay if you feel confident of having a play with it.

There was also an issue with components coming adrift in the actual sensor, but if this is the case, then it is probably a throw away item if not unded warranty. A lot of the earlier propointers had this issue, and Garrett simply swapped the pointer out for a new one as it is unrepairable. When I visited Phil at the Gold Mining Centre, he had a whole bucket full of defective propointers that had this problem.

The battery not seated properly was another common issue, same goes for the Pro-find if the cap is not screwed on tight enough, or more to the point, the foam pad inside the lid was too crushed over time to give a the battery a good contact. The Pro-find switches also have a tendancy to "catch" if the rubber gets pinched in the recess, making continuous contact on the electronics.

I see the new Whites Pinpointer may have resolved some of these issues by making the whole case interchangable vs having the sensor permanently glued into the casing.

 

[BSellin]

I have a pro pointer and want to know when I should change batteries. Will the thing just go dead flat one day or will it start making a new beep.

I am just wondering as I think some days the battery may be flat and I may be missing something. I guess I am to reliant on my ace 250 battery indicator and hoped for an easy way.